Preview: Venom #3

Flash Thompson is the new Venom, but that doesn't mean he's got any better control over that slobbering symbiote...

The new Venom look is pretty cool (although that smile in the cover image makes it a bit less so), whether or not it borrows its coolness from Snake-Eyes from G.I. Joe. There are many lesser choices to borrow cool from. However, things aren't cool for the man beneath the symbiote suit when that alien goo monster becomes the dominant personality.

That's what happens to Flash Thompson in Venom #3. The original deal was that the paraplegic war hero could wear this suit and once again serve his country so long as he maintained control over his emotional state and didn't get angry enough to let Venom take control. But this is Flash Thompson we're talking about, and three issues in, that slobbering tongue is out and he's in full-tilt smack-o-rama with Spider-Man, which gives Flash's handlers a tough decision on whether or not to pull the plug on the guy. Trouble is, he might be the only one who can stop Jack O'Lantern and his plans for a payload of weaponized vibranium.

Will Flash manage to regain control in time to put the kibosh on that plot? Can anyone make Jack O'Lantern look cooler than penciler Tom Fowler has? Will writer Rick Remender reference the fact that vibranium is almost entirely gone thanks to the events of Doomwar? We'll have to tune in to find out.

Check out this new preview art from Venom #3, due out in May, with cover art by Mike Deodato.